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The Press Club holds an annual Boot Camp for high school journalists. It's an opportunity for students to learn the basics about reporting, editing, still photography, shooting video and other skills needed to put out a student publication. The Boot Camp is typically held in the spring.

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Friday, January 7, 2011

Palo Alto Weekly promotes Dong to editor

Palo Alto Weekly Managing Editor Jocelyn Dong, who was raised in Palo Alto and has risen through the paper's editorial ranks over the last 11 years, was named today editor of that publication. The following is from the Weekly's announcement:

Dong will take over for Jay Thorwaldson upon his retirement at the end of January.

"Jocelyn was the obvious and easy choice for this position," Weekly Publisher Bill Johnson said.

"She is a meticulous, thoughtful and innovative journalist with high standards and expectations. She is compassionate and tough at the same time, qualities that result in our readers getting accurate and insightful coverage of the community."

Dong, 45, was raised in Palo Alto, graduated from Palo Alto High School and earned a bachelor's degree in music from Pomona College. She then received a master's degree in mass communication from San Jose State University and became director of communications for United Way in Santa Clara County.

Deciding she wanted to move into journalism, she took an internship at the Palo Alto Weekly in 1999 and was offered a position as special sections editor. She was quickly promoted to assistant editor, and then in 2004 covered land use and other city issues as a senior staff writer.

In late 2005 she was promoted to associate editor and then a year later to managing editor with responsibility for all newsgathering and the day-to-day operations of the Editorial Department. She has also led the Weekly's initiatives to expand multimedia coverage and the use of social media.

Dong is the recipient of numerous journalism awards and has guided the Weekly to an unprecedented six years of receiving the coveted general excellence award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association over the past decade.

As editor, Dong will oversee all editorial operations for the Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto Online and Express, the daily news digest distributed by e-mail to more than 13,000 people each morning.

Thorwaldson, who is retiring after more than 10 years as editor, described Dong as "one of the very best all-around journalists" he has worked with during his decades in the newswriting and editing business.